It's the first investment in Robe that Impact has made, explains director Johnny Ong, although the company has been working with the brand for some time. They actually first used Robe lights for a club installation in Taiwan 7 years ago - XT Series fixtures - which are still going strong - a testament to the quality engineering and build of all Robe's products.

"Robe is being specified more and more frequently for productions, so we wanted to expand our inventory and get the brand onboard to ensure that as a leading rental house we can supply what LD's are asking for," he states, adding that they also had a gap in their hire stock for both a 700 and a 300 type fixture. With the high profile of Robe and their desire to invest in the very latest technology - it was a logical choice.

The deal was sealed by Louis Teo of Robe SEA, and Ong confirms that the local support is "Excellent" which fortifies his confidence that he's made a "Very good choice" in Robe.

Impact's work covers everything from live events, festivals, rock 'n' roll, concerts and touring to conferences and corporate events, theatre and TV productions. The company is active in Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia and mainland China, servicing over 150 events plus per year, and also has offices in Beijing, Guangzhou and Shanghai.

Sister company UnUsUal Developments owns halls 8 and 10 of the Singapore Expo which can be used as event venues with capacities of up to 7000 and 5000.

He comments that the ROBIN 300 Beams are a very flexible fixture and he can see a real use for them as an 'intelligent' and value-added replacement for generic ACLs. He observes that LDs seem very impressed with the light output and the fact that the intensity is uncompromised, whatever the size of the beam selected.

He also echoes the advantages of having smaller, lighter and less power hungry fixtures, a specific feature of Robe's ROBIN Series, and particularly helpful in territories where the power supply is often restricted.

The 700s he feels are a really good 'all round' fixture with plenty of features and functionality and are a very bright and practical 'general purpose' fixture.

Recent shows on which the new Impact Robe's have been used include for Hong Kong Cantopop superstar Sammi Cheng at the Indoor Stadium in Singapore, for which UnUsUal Productions provided production design and all technical equipment.

Forty Robe ColorSpot 700E ATs were positioned on the over-stage trusses and high up at the top and front of the stage, together with 58 of the ROBIN 300 Beams, with both types of fixture also featuring on a special centre rig flown directly above the audience.

Other projects for the Robes have included lighting the main Village Stage for the month long Youth Olympic Games (YOG) event, and for the 2010 Singapore National Day Parade (NDP), for which UnUsUal provided full technical productions for the event's 5 satellite stages.